Swivel casters are non-driven support wheels which are capable of automatic self-alignment in relation to the current direction of movement. They are used, for example, for office chairs, wheel chairs, and shopping trolleys.
A swivel caster of the type mentioned at the outset may also be used for transport containers. To this end, the swivel caster is attached to a container wall on a lower side of the container that faces the floor. If and when a container is to be stacked onto an upper side of another container, the swivel caster is introduced into a clearance on the upper side. The swivel caster is held in a form-fitting manner in the clearance, and is locked against pivoting and also against rolling up to a specific angle of inclination of an upper side of the container. In order for the casters to be able to be introduced into the clearance, the casters have to be inwardly pivoted to a specified alignment. In this alignment it ought to be possible for a stop which is attached to the caster to be actuated, so that the container given certain circumstances does not roll out of the clearance, for example when said container during transport is under the influence of an external force. Since pivoting of the swivel caster has to be performed manually, stacking of the boxes is time consuming and moreover associated with a certain risk of injury.
DE 20 2015 101 804 U1 discloses a swivel caster with the aforementioned properties. The swivel caster includes a cover plate which bears on the mounting plate of the caster mount on the periphery by way of two mutually opposite webs. In this way, the cover plate is connected to the support plate within the caster mount adjacent to the rotation mechanism for a rotation around the vertical axis. Due to the limited space within the caster mount, the possiblilities to connect the support plate to the cover plate are restricted. Equally, the caster mount provides a restricted space for rotation means. Furthermore, the connection of the mounting plate is difficult.
The present invention is based on the object of providing a swivel caster in which the disadvantages described above may be avoided, and in which in particular to provide more space for the rotation mechanism within the caster mount while maintaining the cover plate be adequately fixed to other components of the swivel caster. Moreover, it is the object of the invention to provide a swivel caster in which the cover plate can be fixed in an easier way.
The object is achieved according to the invention by the features described below and illustrated by the appended figures.